Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, May 11, 2006

Rain was a tough opponent for Central Michigan University's softball team on Wednesday. Eastern Michigan and Ohio University proved to be even tougher on Thursday.

After having its opening-round game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Emerson Park rained out Wednesday, CMU lost 6-0 to Eastern and 4-1 to Ohio on Thursday - making an early exit from the tourney and finishing the season a disappointing 22-27.

"I'm obviously very disappointed that we didn't score more runs, play better, hit the ball more," said Chippewas' coach Margo Jonker. " … Obviously, we haven't been mentally tough enough over the course of the season, or we would've won more ballgames.

"It's been one of those years where things didn't fall into place as well as I thought they would at the beginning of the year," added Jonker, whose Chippewas had never previously finished below .500.

Aimee Woodrum held the fourth-seeded Chippewas to just four hits in leading fifth-seeded Eastern to the opening-round win at Currie Stadium.

The contest was originally scheduled to be played Wednesday night, but rain forced tournament officials to move the game to Thursday.

Neither team scored in the first two innings. But, following a 29-minute rain delay in the bottom of the second, the Eagles jumped on Pettit.

Ashley Strauss walked to open the third inning, and Kelly Gulliver reached on a CMU throwing error to put two runners on. Lauren Clark, the MAC Player of the Year, singled to right to drive in Strauss. Nikki Denman followed with a run-scoring single to make it 2-0, and Pettit was pulled in favor of Jessica Garvin.

Lindsay Schmid greeted Garvin with an RBI single, and Stephanie Sabo extended the lead to 4-0 on a fielder's choice.

The Eagles increased the lead to 6-0 in the fourth inning on a towering two-run homer to right by Clark.

CMU had a couple of chances to get on the board. In the fourth, Woodrum hit Amy Hudson and walked Christan Dhondt to begin the inning. But Woodrum got Lindsey Calme to ground into a fielder's choice and struck out the next two hitters to get out of the jam.

In the seventh, the Chippewas had runners on second and third with two outs. But Hudson - who led the MAC in hitting during the regular season - lined hard to first to end the game.

Pettit gave up four runs on four hits in two innings of work. Garvin yielded two runs and struck out six in five innings.

The Chippewas then faced eighth-seeded Ohio in a losers' bracket game at Emerson 2 in cold, blustery conditions. While the weather was chilly, CMU's team and fans were decidedly hot after a bizarre turn of events that changed the tide of the game in the top of the fourth.

With the game scoreless, Central put runners at first and second with one out, and Kim Cozat followed with a slow grounder to Ohio third baseman Emily Futscher. Futscher backpedaled and stepped on the bag to get the force-out at third, but CMU's Katie Horvath stepped on Futscher's foot, causing her to drop the ball.

The initial call on the field was that Horvath was safe, and, following a lengthy debate between Ohio coach Jill Matyuch and the officials, it was announced that the Bobcats would play the rest of the game under protest.

The chief of umpires was then called in, and, after another lengthy discussion, the on-field call was changed and Horvath was called out - giving CMU runners at first and second with two outs instead of having bases loaded with one out.

After Jonker pleaded her case, the overrule stood and the game resumed. Bobcats' pitcher Candace Warden then walked Chivon Kloepfer but struck out Karen Hohs to end the inning and keep Central off the board.

"I think it was very unfortunate. … I have never seen that," Jonker said of the changed call. "I have lots of thoughts on that play at third. … I don't think I probably can share those thoughts."

With the momentum clearly on its side, Ohio erupted for three runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Courtney Waters led off by reaching on an error, and Kelly Rodriguez followed with a single. Robin Miller then doubled to score Waters with the game's first run, and Shannon Weidner followed with a bloop single to score Rodriguez.

Two batters later, Alicia Catlette's fielder's choice brought home Miller, and the Bobcats had a 3-0 lead.

CMU got its only run of the tournament in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by Hudson, but Ohio added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth.

The Chippewas stranded 10 baserunners, including five in scoring position.

According to Jonker, her team's inability to score first in the fourth was a crushing blow.

"I think that would've made a big difference right there (if we had been able to push a run across)," she noted. "When we have those opportunities, we have to come through with the hits, and that's been a struggle this year."

Warden (7-12) pitched the first 6 1/3 innings to get the win. She allowed one run on three hits and six walks, while striking out nine.

Jill DeRoche (6-12) took the loss, going 3 1/3 innings and giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits.

Hudson was 2-for-4 for the Chippewas.

Afterward, Jonker made no excuses, despite the poor conditions and postponements.

"All the teams have to (go through that)," she said. "That's just part of the softball experience. You have to be mentally tough enough to handle that.

" … We'll move on," she added.

Western Mich. 1, Ohio 0 (8 innings)

Top-seeded Western Michigan narrowly avoided a big upset by knocking off eighth-seeded Ohio University 1-0 in eight innings at the Mid-American Conference Softball Tournament at Currie Stadium on Thursday.

The Broncos (32-13) won the game in the bottom of the eighth inning when Mandi Sayres led off with a single and scored on a double to center by Kristi Strange. It was the 22nd double of the season for Strange - a new MAC single-season record.

Sayres was 3-for-3 in the game for the Broncos. Winning pitcher Krysten Shumaker pitched a one-hitter for Western. The lone hit for Ohio was a pinch-hit single by Cathy Walters.

Northern Illinois 3, Akron 2

Northern Illinois came up with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to knock off Akron, 3-2 in an elimination game.

The Huskies (23-27 overall) trailed 2-0 heading into their final at-bat. But Bailey Ouellette and Michelle Nendza slammed back-to-back home runs to tie the game at 2-2. Randi Kreiter followed with a walk, and pinch-runner Jenna Mitchell advanced to second on a sacrifice and came home when Krista McPherson's grounder went through the legs of the Akron shortstop.

Akron, which finishes the season with a 26-25 mark, took the lead in the sixth on a two-run single to left by Jamie Stanclift.

Kent State 3, Bowling Green 2

Kim Hamilton's solo home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh lifted second seed Kent State past Bowling Green 3-2.

The Golden Flashes scored in the second inning before the Falcons tallied single runs in the third and fourth to take the lead.

Kent State tied the game with a run in the fifth, setting up Hamilton's game-winning home run.

MAC Pitcher of the Year Brittney Robinson was the winning pitcher after allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits with five strikeouts.

Hayley Wiemer took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits.

Western Michigan 5, Eastern Michigan 0

The Broncos scored four runs in the second inning to win the final game of the night. Kate Niemi belted a two-run double off Eastern starter Nikki Denman. Becky Bartosz and Kristi Strange also had RBI hits in the inning.

Strange added a solo homer in the seventh inning to round out the scoring.

Western starter Shumaker was dominant again. She allowed just one hit while striking out 15. She struck out the side in second, third and sixth innings.